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civilian population or each other. 18
in particular, the Hessians, perhaps owing to language problems, seemed to have the most
difficulty with the local population. One diarist noted that on 13 June 1777, “last night a man
was beat by Hessians. It is now dangerous to walk the streets after dark.” Two days later, the
same diarist wrote, “the inhabitants continue to receive insults from the Hessians quartered
in town.” 19
Not every Hessian had as a negative experience as the two soldiers shot by Private Ed-
wards. Private Johann Conrad Dohla of the Hessian Ansbach-Bayreuth regiment arrived in
Newport in July 1778. Dohla’s unit was part of some reinforcements sent from New York in
anticipation of a possible foray against Newport by the newly established Franco-American
alliance of 1778. Dohla noted that the town was comprised of about 2000 well situated hous-
es and that due to Newport having been a center of pre-war piracy, “it is said an inestimable
treasure of gold and silver lies buried on the island.” Dohla and the rest of the Ansbachers
were ordered across the harbor to man and defend a battery on nearby Conanicut Island.
Unfortunately for Dohla, he and the rest of his comrades were nearly captured when, on 29
July 1778, the long anticipated French invasion fleet under the command of Admiral Comte
d’Estaing arrived off the harbor entrance. General Robert Pigot, then in command in New-
port, ordered the Conanicut defenses destroyed and the Hessians transferred back to Newport
as quickly as possible. Dohla was then assigned duties improving the defenses of Newport
from a possible land attack. 20
Nonetheless, garrison duty in Newport, at least until the French showed up in the summer
of 1778, must have been fairly mundane. Typically, in order to keep the town under a modi-
cum of control and not overcrowd it with soldiers, regiments were ordered to man strong-
point and defensive positions in other parts of the island. They were especially watchful of
the major ferry crossings, Howland, Fogland, and Bristol, in order to thwart raids by Ameri-
can militia from the mainland. Thus a standard garrison procedure was worked out where the
Hessian and British regiments would alternate being forward deployed in the more austere
northern island locations while the others were back manning and improving the various
landward and seaward defenses of Newport proper. Being forward deployed did not mean
their time there was totally quiet. The Journal of Regiment von Huyn noted that the ameri-
can militia “frequently attacked our detachments and made several attempts to land, so that
several times, especially during the night, signals were given by firing guns and setting alarm
poles on fire for the regiments to turn out immediately. But every time they found the enemy
quite brisk and who at all times thwarted their designs and drove them back again….” 21
However, immediately beyond the town limits things were not as calm as the British and
Hessians had hoped. Soldiers from both Hessian and British regiments tried to desert to the
Americans if the opportunity presented itself. During the single month of August 1778 it was

18 lieutenant Johann Prechtel quoted in Walter K. Schroder, The Hessian Occupation of Newport and Rhode
Island, 1776-1779, (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005), 92-93.
19 Anonymous Diarist, The Historical Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 1, (January, 1860), 1.
20 Johann Conrad Dohla, A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution, (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma
Press, 1990), 79-81.
21 Schroder, 79-80.